Tim Parfitt's Blog, page 11

Un observador inglés (1) – Rajoy is inept and Spain’s lost its mojo.

First, to clarify: I love Spain. I love Catalonia. For over 20 years, on and off, I’ve lived and worked here – 10 years in Madrid, and 10 years in Barcelona, two of the greatest cities in the world. So I feel I can comment … Not so long ago, Spain used to be cool. […]

Letter from Barcelona (13): the king, the EU, and the foreign minister

The worst moments have been from the king of Spain, the EU, and the Spanish foreign minister. The moments are all linked – and they all stink, if you ask me. The king’s speech on 3rd October was shocking, to say the least. I don’t need to relate all the details here – we all […]

Letter from Barcelona (12): Zoido’s lunch (or why controlling Catalonia from Madrid is impractical)

With a chance to finally reflect on the tragic events of the past 12 days, the image that sticks in my mind, believe it or not, is of ‘Zoido’. Juan Ignacio Zoido, Spain’s Interior Minister, aged 59, originally from Seville, now based in Madrid. He’s a former judge, previously Mayor of Seville, and his father […]

Letter from Barcelona (11): ‘We Catalans are victims of political persecution,’ says Pep Guardiola. Did you hear that, Mr.Rajoy?

My Spanish isn’t perfect, but I’m seriously worried about Mariano Rajoy’s English. Despite every British newspaper headline of the past two days lampooning Theresa May’s disastrous election results (‘She’s had her chips’ from The Sun; ‘May stares into the abyss’ from The Times; ‘Coalition of Crackpots’ from The Daily Mirror; & ‘Bloody Idiot’ from The […]

Letter from Barcelona (10): Never, ever give up …

I first had an idea for a film 29 years ago – in February 1988. I’d just moved to Madrid, but I had no idea how to write a screenplay. Nor did I have a computer, or a laptop, let alone ‘Final Draft’, the scriptwriters’ software. So I simply started to write ideas about the […]

Letter from New York (2): Trump hits town, protected by garbage trucks.

Donald Trump was back in town yesterday – but only briefly. It was his first time back in New York since departing for Washington on 19th January to be inaugurated as president the next day (and it still feels surreal to write that). He recently said he has avoided visiting New York because the trips […]

Letter from New York (1): Trump’s 100 days & some stand-up comedy: never before or never again?

So far, here in New York, I haven’t heard anyone say a good word about Trump, let alone about his first 100 days in office. Yes, in tourist shops you can buy Trump mugs and fridge magnets, or baseball caps and T-shirts with ‘Make America Great Again’ plastered all over them, but I’m not sure […]

Letter from Barcelona (9): April in Barcelona, and Murray v Nadal?

Certain cities come alive at different months in the year. For Madrid it is May. In London, I’d say mid-June to early July. Edinburgh, August. New York, September. Munich, October … and so on. For me, April has always been one of the best months to be in Barcelona. The sky is bright blue and […]

Letter from Barcelona (8): The inflated interpretations of an innocuous US Embassy communication about Catalonia.

Firstly, some backdrop to this: it is a known fact that the former Spanish Foreign Minister, José García-Margallo y Marfil, who served under Prime Minister Rajoy from 2011 to 2016, made ‘great efforts’ to talk to governments around the world in order for them to not speak up in favour of Catalonia having the right […]

Letter from Barcelona (7): Operación Catalunya and a ‘mamporrero’.

I think my Spanish is pretty good, and so does Olga – although there’s always room for improvement, especially with the imperfecto de subjuntivo, and I’ll always have a guiri accent. Olga is my ‘Spanish conversation’ teacher. We meet once a week for coffee in a hotel just off the Plaza Catalunya, and I talk […]